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Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you've got about a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies - Damn it, you've got to be kind. - Kurt Vonnegut

Re: How long did you do the 4 day rule

I have been doing 3 days and have been fine (per two drs. reccommendation). My little guy is 7 1/2 mo. My sister said she gave up "testing" foods pretty early with both her girls. However, we do not have a lot of allergies in our family. You would probably be able to see any reaction within a couple days. I am trying to introduce more variety, but being careful not to overlap any new foods at the same time.

Re: How long did you do the 4 day rule

With ds1, I waited between 4-7 days until he was around 13-14 mos, like one of the pp. With ds2, I was less cautious, but I was also at home with him so felt like I was more likely to notice and react to any adverse reactions than what ds1's dcp was able to.

Re: How long did you do the 4 day rule

I read that most reactions occurr within 4 hours and might be a rash, vomiting, or diarrhea, but I would think anything not normal should be mentioned to your ped. We have been trying new foods like this example:

Trying new veggie combo carrots & tomato. He has had carrot just fine, but not tomato. So for the next 3 days, the carrot & tomato blend would be the only veggie he eats, but he might get various fruits and of course cereal. All the fruits be would ones that we have tried already.

At 7.5 months, we have tried most of the stage one foods so I am now trying to mix up the daily combinations a bit. Not sure if this is right, but seems logical to vary his diet a bit since this is healthy for people in general. Also seems a good way to make him more receptive to new tastes and less picky.

Re: How long did you do the 4 day rule

Originally Posted by @llli*sixyearplan

My ped said the AAP is amending recommendation to wait several days between trying new foods. I haven't actually read it myself though. She said how is she supposed to tell parents that the advice she has given for years has changed.

I don't know about the AAP, but I do know I read so much conflicting information in the last few months before starting my girl on solids. After the more recent info I read, I chose not to wait several days in between foods, as I have no history of food allergies in either side of the family. From what I read, I gathered that the advice to delay several days in between stems from when people were told to start feeding purees at four months (or earlier, my mom was told to start me at two months). At that age, the gut is not developed, so I can see why there would be a higher chance of a bad reaction. We are not doing milk, sugars, or added salt, but have been OK with mixed food introduction and regular spices other than salt. Also, from what I understand, that works better with breastfed babies than formula fed as they are used to a more varied flavor and digestive quality from your milk.

Its important to know that the tendency to be allergic is inherited but NOT the specific allergy. In our case I am allergic to cats and when younger had lots of environmental allergies (pollen, grass, etc) but no known food allergies. DS1 has multiple food allergies but so far tests negative to common environmental allergies.